Merc to Merc
by letty-fan24
Summary: Rupert Pelham hires the Expendables to kill his last living enemy: the woman who destroyed his drug empire, who killed nearly all of his men, and who walked away. What will happen when they discover his reputation for treachery? BarneyxOC
1. Not a chapter but please read

*THIS IS NOT AN ACTUAL CHAPTER, I JUST WANTED TO GIVE YOU GUYS A BIT OF BACKGROUND ON HOW THE TWO STORYLINES WILL BE CROSSED AND SOME CHANGES I'VE MADE IN TERMS OF PLOT*

Just to get rid of any confusion:

Although in WET, Rubi Malone kills Rupert Pelham, it is not the case in Merc to Merc. Instead, it's the other way around; Rupert manages to shoot Rubi before she can get to him, and her fate is in his hands. Of course, he decides to kill her in the end, and begins to rebuild his empire.

After nursing his business back to health, Pelham encountered yet another problem with a certain mercenary, who almost ruined his chances of getting rich once more. Jessenia devastated his drug empire similarly to what Rubi did, though when she and Pelham faced off, it was Jess who managed to walk away almost unharmed, while Pelham had lost an eye during the battle.

Remember how Sandra and Barney had a thing in Expendables? That's going to change too. You'll get more info on that in the following chapters as the story progresses.

Since this fic has got some romance, I might include lemons for which I will give warnings if you aren't really fond of them.

I think that's it, so the first chapter should be up soon, so I hope you guys enjoy it and I really appreciate reviews so please do that as well! :D


	2. Distraction from Pain

Distraction from Pain

"Hey, keep your eyes on the sky before we crash," Lee waved his hand before Barney's face. He was daydreaming again. During the worst of times: he was conducting the plane.

"Sorry, man." He apologized. He couldn't get Sandra out of his head. He was so excited to see her. He told her that he would come to Vilena to visit. And now, almost a year later, the Expendables decided to give him a break to spend some time with his woman. Lee was the only one who was reluctant to come; he was about to propose to Lacey, but then the whole 'trip to Vilena so Barney can get some' popped up. He didn't get the chance to. But he promised himself that he would soon.

"You ready?" He asked his nervous best friend, whose face was turning pale at the thought of seeing Sandra again. They were nearing the dock where they had landed the plane what seemed like ages ago. She wasn't notified of his arrival; he wanted it to be a surprise. And he couldn't wait to see her reaction.

"Here we are."

The mercenaries stepped off the plane, taking in their surroundings. Vilena had definitely changed. No doubt Sandra did it. Many streets were paved, the buildings looked more modern, there were even some electrical wires running above the city. "Well she cleaned up well," Lee commented as they all walked on the streets. Barney smiled in agreement.

They all walked into the small restaurant where Lee and Barney first met Sandra before. They had no idea where she would actually be in Vilena; they decided the restaurant would be a good place to ask around for her whereabouts, considering one of the waitresses already knew Barney and Lee from their visit long ago. But, sure enough, there she was, sitting alone at the very same table they sat at before. It was as if she was waiting for someone. Gunner opened the thin curtain, which served as a door to the restaurant, for everyone. Barney stepped in first, his friends following behind him. Sandra's eyes widened at the sight of his familiar black shirt, aviators, military boots, and cargo pants.

"Barney Ross?" Her words lingered in the air with an accent.

"Sandra," he responded with a smile.

She looked stunning. She donned a light, yellow summer dress, her hair was loose and she looked like she could brighten up even the darkest days. He didn't let another word slip from her lips as he pulled her into a romantic hug. The rest of the boys sat down on nearby tables, witnessing the moment. He didn't even notice how restrained she was until she broke the hug. "I-I don't know what to say..." she stuttered nervously.

"You can say 'welcome back'," he grinned, waggling his eyebrows playfully.

"It's not that I am not glad to see you, Barney, I am," she turned his grin to a frown at the seriousness of her tone.

"Shit," Lee whispered to Toll Road.

"But...things are not the same here anymore."

Barney chuckled lightly. "Of course they're not, you've transformed this place."

"Well, that also. What I mean is...well," she sighed desperately.

"Señora, su esposo la espera," an older woman interrupted from outside.

"Un momento," Sandra told the woman, who left after hearing this.

"Oh, shit." Lee repeated. He understood what they were saying. But Barney didn't. This was going to kill him.

"What are they saying?" Yang asked Lee. "You'll find out soon enough," Lee said softly, looking at the not-so-happy couple before them.

"Is something wrong?" Barney really looked upset now. Confusion and worry were written across his face. Sandra kept switching her focus between Barney and the curtain from which the woman had emerged seconds ago.

"I wish you would have come sooner..." she frowned. Her eyes glistened a little. He couldn't tell if it was him or if she really was about to tear.

"Wh-" he began.

"¡Cariño! ¿Qué esperas? ¡Tenemos cosas que hacer!" A man's voice came from the street. He entered the restaurant. He was a well-built man, and wore a rather official-looking outfit. Almost like what Sandra's father once wore, but it looked less depressing and didn't have 'murderer' written all over it. The way he looked at her, and the man standing a little too close to her, said it all. Though Barney didn't register quite yet, the Expendables understood.

"¿Sandra, que pasa?" He asked her, moving closer to them.

"Espera un poco, por favor Jaime," she held up a hand that stopped him in his tracks. Barney looked at him, then at her, then back at him. This was when he realized they were still partially holding onto each other from the previous hug. He let go of her and stood back to see Jaime a few feet from her.

"Barney, I am...married." She said with a frown. Moving closer to Jaime, she held his hand. "Oh." He replied, crushed.

"Not good," Toll Road commented softly so Barney wouldn't hear. The Expendables knew their leader well. He wasn't normally the guy to show much emotion. He also didn't show feelings or affection towards women. But they could tell that Sandra's words had devastated him. Still, he kept composure.

"I uh..." He started. Silence filled the room. "Well, I'm happy for you." He put on his sunglasses to hide his eyes. "We'll be going now. Got stuff to do. Just wanted to see how you were doing." He cleared his throat. With a nod to his team, they exited with him slacking behind.

"Barney," Sandra grabbed his arm. Even just her touch hurt him. "I am sorry," she said solemnly with tears filling her eyes.

"Don't be. You got a good thing going here." He walked away to join his team.

To say the trip back to the states was quiet, even extremely quiet, would be an understatement. It was as if the air, the passengers and pilots of the plane, hell, even the world, were completely dead. The mercenaries knew better than to speak to Barney so early prior to his conversation to Sandra. Still, they couldn't bear to see him at his weakest point.

"You gonna be alright?" Lee asked. His friend sighed.

"After a couple beers." He sounded extremely depressed. Lee decided to leave it at that for now; his friend needed some time to think. After they touched down and headed to Tool's to chat and drink for a bit, in a few hours, only Lee, Tool, and Barney were left.

"Hey, Ross, you're lookin a little empty there brother," Tool commented, offering him a third beer.

"Just one of those days, man." He replied, taking the beer.

"You know we're here for you, mate." Lee put his hand on his shoulder. A sigh escaped his mouth and he nodded.

It took a few days with the boys to get him to talk, in fact, almost a week. It took even longer for him to get that frown off his face. Finally, he decided it was time to get back to work. It would probably be the only thing to keep him occupied and stop him from thinking about Sandra. _Sandra..._ The woman broke his heart so easily without a moment's notice. Just like that. '_I am married_.' Three little words. Not the three words he thought would come from her. Women these days. Merciless heartbreakers.

"Hey, Ross! We got a contract waiting!" Hale Caesar called from the briefing room.

Barney got out of the kitchen, bringing with him the six pack of beer he retrieved from the fridge before his memories and thoughts flooded him. He walked into the briefing room, glancing at each mercenary he called friend. To his left was Hale Caesar, heavy weapon specialist and maybe even a little insane sometimes. Beside Hale was Yin Yang, martial arts expert and best friend to Hale. Sure, he was the shortest of them all, but he sure could hold his own. The way he handled himself when fighting Gunnar was all the proof needed. For one, the guy didn't die. A few feet ahead of Yang was Lee, Barney's second in command, standing before a large computer screen displaying information. No doubt it concerned their next mission. To his right stood Gunnar, sniper and recently reinstated Expendable, and Toll Road, demolitions expert with weird ears as well as a flaring temper.

"What's up?" Barney asked, setting the beer on a desk as his friends waited patiently for him.

"Old guy, Rupert Pelham. Says he wants us to take out an enemy of his." Toll Road informed him as he took a beer.

"Payment?" he asked.

"$10 mil, cash." Yang answered.

Lee motioned to the large screen in front of them, saying "Location is Salcedo, a small town in Mexico. The city's split up between a team of mercenaries, one of which is the target, and a powerful gang. Seems like they'll be going to war any minute. It's a perfect opportunity if you ask me."

"Who's the target?" Barney asked.

"We don't have much information; looks like the mercs do a pretty good job of hiding their footprints. But Pelham did give us some intel on the target's appearance."

"This guy, Pelham. What's his background?"

"I did some research on him," Yang piped in. "He was a successful crime lord a few years back, but he had some violent run-ins with a few enemies. In short, his business declined after that. Most recently, a mercenary, our target, killed off most of his guards and took down much of his merchandise, supplies, and reputation. Before he had a chance to kill her, she escaped. He lost an eye during the battle."

"Slippery bastard," Hale commented.

"And now he wants us to finish the job," Gunnar stated. The team reviewed satellite images of the whereabouts of the mercenary base, their activity, weapons, and members. After a few minutes of discussion, they reached a decision. Pelham could consider his enemy dead.

SPANISH TRANSLATIONS:

-Señora, su esposo la espera—Madame, your husband awaits

-Un momento—One moment

-¡Cariño! ¿Qué esperas? ¡Tenemos cosas que hacer!—Darling! What are you waiting for? We have things to do!

-¿Sandra, que pasa?—Sandra, what's going on?

-Espera un poco, por favor Jaime—Please wait a bit, Jaime


	3. The Exchange

New chapter should be finished and edited in a few weeks :)

Please review! It helps me write better :D

"Jess! Wake the _fuck_ up already! We need to get the new security systems online, dammit!" Lopez yelled at her over the intercom booming in her room. Her eyes fluttered open and her body stretched a bit under the warm blanket. But she did not get up.

"Jess, _come on_!" A female voice yelled. It belonged to her best friend, Alexis.

They had known each other since 3rd grade. So many years they had stuck together, and now they led different lives than they could ever have imagined as elementary schoolers.

Because they were not average people with average jobs. They were mercenaries. Skilled, money-crazed, territorial mercenaries. They worked with a team of people possessing these same qualities to get contracts done. And they were done quite well.

It's been nearly a year since they relocated to a new base of operations in Mexico and Lopez, the tech expert, had suggested investing in better security systems and alarms to assure their safety in case of an attack.

And attacks were definitely something to be worried about in Salcedo, Mexico. One would be crazy not to be worried about violence here. Nearly half of the city was controlled by Jess and her mercenaries, more commonly known as Los Pistoleros, and the other half was controlled by a subsection of the largest and most powerful gang in all of Mexico, Cinco Reyes. There was extreme tension between the two, both being very territorial and violent. Los Pistoleros were kinder to the people who lived on their half of the city, and few people lived in poverty there. But those living in Cinco Reyes territory were as good as dead. Due the bad relationship with Los Pistoleros, anyone even trying to escape Cinco Reyes territory with intentions to live in Pistoleros land was severely punished. People couldn't get in or out of the place.

In the past few months, the relationship between the mercenaries and drug cartels had deteriorated extremely, leading to constant violence at the border where their lands meet. It would not be long until the situation escalated into a war. And Los Pistoleros were preparing for that day to come; for them, victory would result as the day Salcedo is finally freed, and Cinco Reyes' grip on Mexico is weakened. Until then, Los Pistoleros needed to raise as much money as possible in order to safeguard the base, buy supplies and weapons, establish a perimeter along their side of Salcedo, and try to protect their people as much as they could.

Recently, Jess put Alexis in charge of finding contracts around the world to earn some money, Luke and Roberto in charge of managing and profiting from the city's economy and businesses, Lopez, Victor, and Erik in charge of the base and city's protection as a whole, and left herself to observe Cinco Reyes activity around them, just to be sure they didn't get any funny ideas.

So far, they were doing well in terms of earning and spending wisely, but Jess still felt cautious about an incoming attack despite purchasing the new security system, which she still hadn't gotten up to check on.

"I swear the minute you get your lazy ass down here, I'm slamming my foot on your face!" Alexis threatened.

Jess groaned, coming to the realization that she would have to get up soon, not because of the threat her best friend delivered but because a loud voice wouldn't help her sleep anyway. Pushing the respond button next to the speaker beside her bed, she yelled "I'm coming, bitch!"

After taking a short shower and brushing her teeth, she pulled on some jeans, combat boots, and a white tank top. Then she geared herself up with the usual: SMGs strapped to each thigh, black holster diagonally across her chest that held a pistol, a blade strapped to her leg (concealed by the jeans), fingerless gloves with carbon fiber sewn on the knuckles, and lastly, a blue and white bandana tied around her left leg. Not only did it represent her as a member of Los Pistoleros, but it was also a memoir of the time she served in the US Air Force.

Out the door she walked, where, after descending the stairs from the hallway, it seemed that all her friends were in the midst of chaos.

The HQ room was fairly large, but it was quite bland. A navy blue carpet covered the floor, while steel colored walls reflected the cheap, basic lights from the ceiling. Several computers and electronic equipment took up at least half of its space. And there were some desks lying around, each one belonging to a Pistoleros member. Now, no one was or is the leader of Los Pistoleros, but if there was anyone who could be considered to earn more respect than the rest of the members, it would be either Jess or Alexis, who founded Los Pistoleros a few years back.

"What is going on!" she yelled loudly to grab their attention. Lopez and Alexis were in the far left corner of the room, arguing. They were surrounded by electronic equipment and screens. To her actual left, Jess saw Luke and Roberto, not arguing, but rather having an enthusiastic conversation, most likely relating to business strategies. _Nerds_. But she still loved them. Those two were one and the same, almost as if they were twins.

In the center of the room, Victor and Erik were just chatting it up like there was no tomorrow. This didn't really bother Jess, but it was the fact that they, like everyone else in that room, were too loud for her to hear her own thoughts. "SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Her naturally loud voice boomed and echoed in the room. Everyone froze to look at her. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she turned to the pair of mercs closest to her.

"Luke! Roberto! What's going on with city profits?"

Luke, the taller one, had light brown hair that was cut short. He had light green eyes and was great at creating distractions in dire situations. Roberto was a bit shorter, but his fighting spirit made up for that. He reminded everyone of Paquiao, so that was sometimes his code name. He was good at close quarters fighting, but his true mastery was knife and grenade throwing.

"Business is good so far. I think we should start trading with nearby cities to get some extra cash rolling in." Luke's voice responded, almost mimicking Jess's military tone.

Nodding, she said, "Alright. Get on that as soon as you can. We've got enough surplus products to go around anyways."

With that, she turned to Victor and Erik. Victor had dark brown hair that swooped slightly over his forehead. He sometimes had a temper that got the best of him, though he and Erik were most known among Los Pistoleros for their crude and dark sense of humor. He also was the demolitions and vehicle expert in the group. Erik had dark brown hair with light highlights and it was almost always slicked back with gel. He was generally a good fighter all around, but he was a natural at sniping and covert ops.

"What's the situation with defense tactics, guys?" she walked towards them.

"We've set up a decent perimeter. It's a little more advanced than basic; it should hold for now. We didn't know how serious you wanted it to go as far as border control." Erik motioned to a computer screen behind him.

Walking closer towards them, Victor spoke. "I'd set up electric fences and more cameras and motion sensors, unless that's going too far."

She shook her head. "We can't take any risks. How much would that cost?"

Erik showed her stacks or paper with writing and calculations. "We've done estimations, but it's obviously not cheap. Then we have to worry about stocking up on armor, weapons, ammo, bombs; the list goes on. Not to mention what we're going to do about keeping the city safe."

Jess winced at the thought of so much money they'd have to spend, and wondered about one of the worst-case scenarios: if they did successfully defend themselves against Cinco Reyes, what would they do if they called in for reinforcements, when Los Pistoleros were completely out of resources and were weak from fighting? She sighed. The last few weeks had been tough on all the mercenaries. They knew an attack was sure to come, and time to prepare was running out.

"Assume we're going to get the whole package. 15 more cameras and motion sensors surrounding the border and the base, a 7 foot electric fence along the city's perimeter, one new set of armor and $30k in ammo for each person, $75k in explosives total-that includes c4, grenades, flashbangs, smokes, and incendiaries. We need 6 automatic turrets covering the base, and 15 covering the perimeter along the fence," she stopped to catch her breath, grateful to see that Erik and Victor were writing down each request.

"$250k in armor reinforcements for the jet, $250k worth of joint strike missiles, $350k in turret ammo for the plane, three fuel tanks...am I missing something?" She asked. They shrugged.

"Okay, well that's our shopping list. Crunch the numbers for me and I'll get back to you." They nodded and got to work.

Lastly, she turned to Lopez and Alexis in the far corner. Lopez had short black hair and was pretty much the Hugh Hefner of Salcedo; the guy was always out with a new chick every time. His specialty was dual weapons and endurance—he was the fastest runner out of all of them. Alexis had black hair past her shoulder, had a curvy body, and was the shortest Pistolero. She was most skilled in stealth missions as she was silent and could fit almost anywhere. She also carried dual weapons, but usually equipped herself with an assault rifle across her back just in case.

"What are you two girls crying about?" she crossed her arms.

"_This_ ass didn't want to set up the security system until he finished eating!" Alexis pointed at Lopez.

"A guy's got to eat or else he turns into a little bitch. Let him eat. Are you guys _seriously_ arguing over that?" she replied.

"He's been 'eating' for the last few hours!" she complained.

"Come on, man," Jess looked at Lopez. He had a grin on his face. _What a lazy ass_. Especially for being the fastest on her team.

"Chill, girl," he laughed, raising his hands up in protest.

"Alright I'll do it, _damn_. I just felt that doing it without you by my side felt wrong," he enhanced his pathetic excuse by clutching his chest dramatically.

Jess rolled her eyes at him. Every once in a while he tried to get in Jess's and Alexis's pants. It seemed the guy always got a hard-on if he had any decent-looking girl near him.

"Problem solved? Good. Can we all get back to work now?" Jess said accusingly at both. They nodded, then she walked over to her desk. _At least everyone finally shut up._

She sat down in front of the computer and gained access to the few cameras they had set up at the border. "Hmm," she said to herself when she tried to look at Cinco Reyes activity. Two cameras had been shut down or disconnected from the northern part of the border, where the ghetto Pistolero and Cinco Reyes parts of Salcedo merged.

"I'm heading to north Santo Domingo," she alerted them as she slowly and cautiously got up from her chair. Her eyes did not leave the half blank computer screen that caused her so much worry.

"Santo Domingo? Are you crazy!" Luke scrunched his eyebrows at her.

"Two cameras were taken out there. I'm going to find out why," she headed towards the stairs. She saw Roberto tense up to her right.

"Relax, Rob. It could just be an animal or something," she reassured him. It didn't seem to work.

"At least take a radio with you. Just in case." Alexis's voice pleaded from behind her, all the way in the back of the room.

Jess sighed, turned around, and grabbed the earpiece Alexis handed to her. Leaving the base's perimeter, she knew she would have to be on her guard now. Sure, if she felt she was in danger she couldn't handle, she could simply use the earpiece to call for her team to help out. But still, the most dangerous thing to her was the unknown. Walking on the streets, many people recognized her, and moved respectfully out of her way. Los Pistoleros always received this attention because they treated the people with respect unlike the Cinco Reyes.

After what seemed like a lifetime of walking across their half of the city, she finally reached a small shack a few feet from the border. Camera 4, which was offline, had been set up around the area. Although most people avoided being this close to the city's border, she was surrounded by an odd, eerie environment. There were a handful of abandoned houses built along the dirt road; the camera was set up on the roof of one of them. The problem was remembering which one. She pulled out her pistol from its holster and moved cautiously toward the nearest house. Her eyes quickly scanned the exterior and she concluded that this was not it. Gripping the pistol as her hands began to perspirate slightly, Jess took a deep breath in order to calm her anxiety. Next, she crossed the street over to a shack on the corner of the closest block.

All of a sudden, she had the feeling she wasn't alone. She heard foggy footsteps as she sensed another heartbeat nearby. Cocking back the pistol, she raised it to the elevation of her chest, ready to pull the trigger should she feel threatened. Taking slow breaths to calm herself, Jess walked slowly across the street. Then she heard the familiar sound of another gun being cocked. She froze when its barrel lightly touched the back of her head. _Shit_. Slowly she turned around to face the threat. The man who was closest and posed the greatest threat was tall, muscular, with black hair. He was wearing a black shirt with aviator sunglasses and dark pants. Behind him were 5 other men, all pointing their guns at her.

One of them was dark skinned, another looked Asian, and another one was bald with odd looking ears. There were two more she didn't have time to observe, but she knew this was not a good situation for her.

Pointing her gun at the man in front of her, she said, "Pistoleros. North Santo Domingo. The shack. Apurense." They probably thought she was crazy for saying such random words like that; their faces said it all. What they didn't know was that Jess was calling for backup from her earpiece, which was hidden by her long brown hair. All she needed to do now was stall for time.

"What the hell is she saying?" Asked the bald man.

"Not your problem, dipshit." She bit back.

"You better watch your mouth," said a tall, ragged looking one in the back.

"How about you stick your suggestions up your ass!" She responded.

"Alright, how bout we all calm down now? You're coming with us, if that wasn't already obvious to you," Aviator Guy stated.

"You're not taking her without a fight!" Erik and the rest of Los Pistoleros appeared from a nearby rooftop. They were all wielding guns and were in formation behind Jess. She raised her eyebrows at the man with aviators, challenging him.

"Let me get straight to the point: Rupert Pelham sent us to deliver you to him. Simple as that. Now, you can either cooperate, or try to put up a fight. Either way, in the end, we'll get paid cold hard cash in exchange for you. So-what's it going to be?" He one-upped her.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Alexis asked apprehensively. Jess could almost imagine her tense up as she finds out the fate of her best friend. Jess sighed; Los Pistoleros had enough trouble on their hands, she didn't want to cause more stress.

"Let it go, guys. I'll come quietly; this is between me and Pelham." She lowered her pistol to her side, looking at the men aiming at her.

_Mercenaries_. They had to be. Hire a merc to kill a merc; it seemed a bit ironic. The man with aviators smiled at her, lowering his weapon slightly.

"Yang," he motioned for the Asian guy to come closer. Yang handcuffed Jess after disarming her. He handed her weapons to another man with short dark hair.

"Thank you," he said nonchalantly in a British accent.

"Let's go," the tallest one said. Jess looked back at her own team. They seemed confused, desperate, angry, and disappointed.

"Don't worry about me. Focus on the attack. Focus on Cinco Reyes. It's coming soon. Those people are counting on us, give them something to be proud of. Fight and defend them." She told them as she was led away. They disappeared in a cloud of dust from the road as they drove away.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Well that went better than I thought," the darker one said.

"You realize you aren't getting your money, right?" Jess asked them.

"What are you talking about?" Asked the one with the British accent.

"I'm saying you _don't_ trust Pelham. He's not giving you your money when we meet him. I bet you he'll have all his guards ready to shoot when I'm in his hands."

She heard a man scoff.

"And why should we believe you? You're just the package. You're not important," the tall one scrunched his brows at her. As if she thought she could convince them to let her go. That would be like letting money walk away from them, and good money at that.

Needless to say, the Expendables weren't going to let a girl outsmart them. She chuckled at his words. They really thought she was lying to them to escape. Anything she would say wouldn't change their minds, but it was fair for them to know what they got themselves into, setting a deal with Pelham. If they weren't going to hear it, then screw it. They could deal with Pelham on their own.

"How much did he offer you for me?" She asked as they hopped off the Jeep and walked towards a plane.

"None of your business," a British voice snapped at her.

"Ouch," she winced sarcastically as they loaded her onto the plane.

"Lee, you're my wingman," said the man with aviators to said British guy.

"I got your back, Barney," he replied as he stepped into the cockpit. Barney turned to the rest of his team.

"Keep her company. Make sure she doesn't get into trouble." He eyed her for a few seconds before joining Lee.

While the plane's engines kicked into high gear and it roared to life, Jess couldn't help but look out the window. She tried hard to resist but ultimately gave into her regretful pain.

They were at the border between Pistoleros and Cinco Reyes territory. Los Pistoleros were preparing for what might be the biggest and most dangerous battle of their lives, and there she was, sitting in a plane, all tied up like a pretty little princess waiting to be rescued. She couldn't help them one bit; all she did was give them a shopping list and left. Not even a goodbye before she left.

"You ok?" Yang asked her. Instead of reacting to his civil gesture, she sighed in response and leaned her head against the window.

"No threats? Impressive." The bald guy taunted. She shot him a quick glare, which he returned back, then leaned her head back again. She needed to find a way to get out of here. _But how?_ She couldn't spot any parachutes from her peripheral vision that she could use if she damaged the plane. She wasn't even properly armed for Christ's sake! All she had was the blade strapped to her leg. How could she possibly get back to base now? Every passing second meant a greater distance from Los Pistoleros. It meant she was farther away from her team, her friends. Her_only_ friends at that. _I need to get out of here,_she thought.

She spent several minutes, maybe even hours, trying to think of escape plans, but nothing useful came up. She would need more intel on her surroundings to make a proper escape plan. Then she considered the drop-off.

"Where are we going?" She asked.

"Pelham," said the dark skinned guy.

"And where is Pelham?" She persisted.

"None of your business." The bald guy retorted. She rolled her eyes, disappointed.

"London? France?" She tried again.

"You ask way too many questions." The tall one glared at her.

"Well what do you expect? I'm a girl." She responded, upset, and gave up their game of 20 Questions. It wasn't long before they touched land-a few hours, give or take.

Her guess was proven correct when she felt the plane slow down significantly and lower itself down on a runway. Barney and Lee escorted her inside a warehouse, the rest following closely behind. She took her time observing her surroundings, trying to pinpoint where in the world they were. It looked like they were in England. The cold weather and the essence of sketchy criminal alerted her eyes back to an old, slate grey warehouse ahead of them.

It was a fairly large building; the rusty sheet metal covering the walls made it look out of place in the midst of wet streets and lamp posts. She tried to look inside windows from where she was standing to foresee an ambush, but it was difficult the way her captors urged her to keep walking. Soon, she would meet Pelham once more. This time, she wasn't sure if she would survive. Once inside, there were many crates and construction vehicles almost right at the door, as if they were put there to distract curious eyes.

Making their way through this maze, a black SUV was parked in the middle of the building. Four guards accompanied Pelham; two beside him and two behind him. The one on his left held a black case: the payment. The rest were armed and in position. There he stood, the bastard, wearing shades, a fedora hat, a suit, boots, and a cane; all black. As if the place didn't look depressing enough.

Despite the shades attempting to cover part of his face, he definitely looked older. The years etched into his face like a racecar made burnt rubber marks on a road. He smiled at the sight of Jess. He was like a child in a candy shop. Her life was his for the taking. She was another woman to get his revenge on.

"Pelham," she tried to act as calm as possible. "Heard you couldn't wait to get your hands on me."

Lee restrained her from walking any closer to Pelham. She gave off a sort of manic effect into the air. It was kind of creepy how she was willingly walking to her death.

"Well, after realizing you survived that bombing in Iraq, I simply _had_ to be sure you couldn't survive anything else. You are one of the reasons my empire has declined over the years. And I cannot let you walk around after causing that much harm. I think I'd be doing everyone a favor by taking your life." He smiled.

Jess scoffed. "I think it would be the other way around, actually. You _are_ reputable for going against your word. And who would want to do business with an untrustworthy man?"

She relaxed under Lee's grasp. Now it was _his_ turn to tense up.

He frowned at her. "Whichever way you'd like to turn it, you will die tonight. Painfully. Slowly. And by my hand. Now," he motioned to the men behind her.

"The girl," he struck his cane once against the ground. Immediately, the armed man to his right walked up to Jess and walked her over to Pelham.

"In the car," he waved to his side.

_It's now or never_. "Fuck you, Pelham!" She yelled as she tried to break free from the guard's grasp.

"The payment?" Asked Lee, ignoring the commotion Jess was causing.

"Of course," Pelham smiled at the team. The guard holding the case walked over to the formation of mercenaries. He held the case faced away from them and opened it, so that they could not see the content inside. But Jess saw what was in that case.

"The amount we agreed upon is all in here," Pelham smiled at them.

As he reached into the case, Jess yelled out, "Gun!"

The guard holding her slammed her head forcefully against the SUV. And thus, the fight began.

SPANISH TRANSLATIONS:

Apurense—Hurry up


	4. Change of Plans

Barney slammed the case against the man holding it, rendering him unconscious.

"Send the rappellers!" Pelham ordered.

As the mercenaries opened fire on Pelham's lap dogs, Jess managed to break hold of the man restraining her. Once she moved out of the way, someone fired at him. He dropped to the ground and Jess turned around to find Barney smiling at her. She smirked back at him but then frowned when the skylights above him broke.

As glass shattered over them, more men rappelled down and shot at the mercenaries. Jess sprinted behind the SUV for cover and got behind one of Pelham's guards. She took him out with a strike to the clavicle and proceeded to grab her blade. She held it at Pelham's throat, threatening to slice it once the rappellers touched the ground. They all had their sights on her as the life of their boss was in her hands. She couldn't suppress a smile. Oh, how the tables had turned on the bastards, and it was noticed by everyone in the warehouse.

Distracted, countless bullets pierced Pelham's men from behind by the mercenaries who only minutes ago had held her captive. The main doors of the warehouse blew open behind the Expendables. In came more of Pelham's henchmen, too many to even count.

"Shit, they must have called for backup!" She knocked Pelham out with a blunt force strike to his temple and reached for a dead body's pistol.

"They're gonna corner us, spread out!" Barney ordered.

The mercenaries split up into pairs and took cover behind the vehicles conveniently nearby. Jess didn't react as fast as the Expendables did in finding cover; she was more obsessively worried about Pelham getting away, even if he _was_ unconscious at the moment.

Barney noticed her standing in the middle of the place with no time to take cover, so he yelled for someone to throw a smoke grenade between the two sides to buy her some time.

Once she saw a dark gray cloud of fog, she immediately sprinted and landed into a roll to the nearest cover she could find, right beside Barney.

"You know how to use that thing, right?" He popped out of cover to pick off the advancing enemy soldiers.

"Don't think a girl like me can handle it?" She challenged, taking down a few men with the pistol. She was grateful that the cuffs didn't mess up with her line of sight, though they did provide some discomfort.

"Just sayin', we're in deep shit here," he replied and reloaded.

Both sides exchanged fire back and forth across the room, neither side getting an advantage.

"I'm goin' in!" Yelled the Brit from her right.

"Got you covered!" She yelled back, struggling with her cuffs a little as she got in position.

He ran diagonally across the room and dropped two or three grenades and found some cover behind a few large shipment boxes.

The explosion was intensified when it combined with the power of a fuel tank that was nearby. The roof of the warehouse was lit up in flames and eradicated most of Pelham's guards. Only a few remained alive, outnumbered by the Expendables.

"Advancing!" Barney announced and got up from cover, moving ahead towards the heat and blaze.

"Covering!" Jess replied and distracted the men nearest to him as he ran.

"I'm goin in!" The dark skinned mercenary yelled to Yang.

"Run, Caesar!" He acknowledged his partner's statement.

The three men disappeared behind the flames as they crossed the room. For a moment, Jess was scared the fire would eat them up too. The remaining Expendables and Jess heard a few gunshots on the other side. Ten seconds later, Barney, Lee, and Caesar emerged from the sea of heat that had now consumed half of the warehouse. The three were covered head to toe in a combination of blood, sweat, and burns. Still, they were alive and well, loosely clutching their rifles as they returned to their team.

Once they all regrouped, the Expendables turned to Jess, who stood over Pelham. She nodded at them as they respectively lowered their weapons away from her.

"So what are we gonna do about him?" Asked Lee.

She shrugged and lowered her weapon to her side. "Told you you weren't getting your money," she smiled at them. "I know this bastard all too-"

She was cut off by a knife to her leg; Pelham had pulled it out of his cane as she spoke.

"Oh, you sonovabitch!" She collapsed to the floor with him, dropping the pistol and clutching her leg.

The Expendables raised their guns at him so he couldn't harm her more, but they were too slow. Propping herself on her elbow, she quickly dug her own knife into his throat, before any of them could pull the trigger.

"Fuck you..." She groaned. Her breath was becoming slowly uneven.

"Search the place. Meet us back here." Barney ordered his team. They all nodded and rushed to the left, where behind a red door seemed to be a storage room of sorts.

"And someone find a MedKit," he added as he walked over to Jess. "Alright, nice 'n easy," he lifted her from the ground and leaned her against the car.

"Lemme see that," he removed his sunglasses. Setting his gun down, he gently ripped away the part of her jeans penetrated by the blade to get a better look at the wound.

She took a few brief seconds to study him so she could at least try to ignore the intense pain in her leg: he had deep brown eyes, darker than Lee's, and his hair was a black, short, tousled mess. His hardened face displayed years of experience in combat...not the typical thing to notice in a merc; usually mercenaries were violent people who were a bit mentally insane and craved money. Most had 4 years of battle experience, tops. This guy had seen some deep shit-his attitude said it all.

She winced in response to his fingers prodding, albeit gently, at her wound.

"Doesn't look too deep. If he was aiming to make you bleed to death, he missed," He assured her.

"Still hurts like hell," she gasped.

He stood up, setting his gun on the hood of the SUV. She moved her cuffed hands towards him, wanting to be released. He winked at her when he pulled out a small key and unlocked the handcuffs. "You'll be alright," he concluded and handed the pistol to her.

"Would you like to do the final honors?" He motioned to an almost dead Pelham choking on his own crimson blood spurting from his neck wound, courtesy of Jess.

"Absolutely," she smiled and fired. His blood had formed a puddle and even more splattered after she pulled the trigger. That gunshot resounded throughout her eardrums, and it was pure music to her. All that pent up anger from years ago traveled from her very soul to the bullet and out the gun, into his heart. She even sighed in contentment, causing Barney to chuckle beside her.

They heard several footsteps approaching and saw that Lee and the team returning, each one carrying a black bag across his back. Yang also carried a first aid kit in his hands. He immediately patched her up. After that, the men revealed to her what was in the bags: money. And lots of it.

"Well, looks like you guys hit the jackpot." Jess said, still giddy about killing Pelham. After a moment of silence from admiring the money, Barney said, "Let's pack up."

With that, the money bags were zipped shut and ready to be loaded onto the plane. Jess limped into the SUV and was ready to drive off into town.

"Aren't you coming?" Barney asked. She raised one eyebrow at him, confused.

"Well you didn't expect me to leave you here after doing us a favor like that, did you?" he smiled. She chuckled, noticing he had put his sunglasses back on.

"Well, mercenaries aren't exactly the nicest of people, am I right?"

"Spot-on," he responded. "Let's go," he held out his hand for her.

She hesitated for a second, looking at him, then his hand, then back at him.

"Just like that?" She was incredulous. He simply nodded in response.

"You're giving me a free ride home...?"

"Hurry up before the offer expires," he said with a hint of impatience.

"No catch?"

"Didn't we just go over this?" He sounded annoyed now.

She narrowed her eyes at him and took his hand. "Screw me over, and you're dead," she warned.

He chuckled at her threat and slung her arm over his shoulder so she wouldn't limp as much. Making their way back to the plane, the rest of the team was already waiting. They all gave Jess and their leader odd looks. Given the sudden turn of events, there was bound to be some confusion.

"We're heading to Salcedo, boys. Our new friend here needs a ride home." He told them.

"What do we look like, a taxi service?" The one with funny ears rudely asked.

"If it wasn't for me you wouldn't even be alive to ask that question," she narrowed her eyes and smiled.

"Cool it, Toll Road," Lee calmly told him. Barney nodded in thanks.

"So, it's settled. Let's go, we're burning daylight," the tallest one said.

They nodded at him and made way for Jess to limp into her seat. After making sure everyone was settled, Lee and Barney once again took control of the plane. Everyone else, including Jess, got to work during the trip. There were cuts to patch up, burns to soothe, guns to reload, and equipment to store away, most importantly the money. Along the way, the Expendables got acquainted with Jess.

They learned that she used to serve in the US Air Force as a pilot, before her family was caught up with Mexican drug cartels. She took matters into her own hands and formed Los Pistoleros to free Mexico from as many gangs as possible. When their places of operation were getting too hot, they were forced to live back in the States, where they did several contract jobs. After some time, they became notorious in the United States as well, so they moved to Canada, though with little success. For a while, they laid low, doing as much honest work as they could; nevertheless, they were open to doing dirty work if the price was right.

Los Pistoleros recently decided to move back to Mexico since the cartels were ruining the country with their violence. However, they weren't welcomed so nicely by Cinco Reyes, a gang that had claimed parts of Salcedo when they arrived.

Los Pistoleros stuck to the unoccupied half of the city and were eventually allied with the general public. Cinco Reyes was a different story. The tension started off with threats here and there, a rise in the city's crime rate, and destroying public property from each territory. Now, war between them was inevitable. And that was when the Expendables showed up.

After some more chatting, Jess got to know each member. Hale Caesar was a tall, dark skinned man with a shaved head and was best friends with Yang, the small Asian mercenary who patched up her knife wound. Both men both dark colored eyes and Yang had perfectly short black hair and no facial hair, which made him look very young.

Toll Road was mouthy, rude, and stubborn, like her. He was also the one with the funny looking ears, who ended up telling her the story of aforementioned ears. It seemed like the rest of the mercenaries had heard this story more than once and were not pleased about having to hear it again. Jess laughed at their complaints but Toll Road seemed to not have a care.

Gunnar was the tallest member with long and shaggy dirty blonde hair. His voice was as deep as Barney's, if not more. He was pretty cynical though good humored and had a sick imagination, also much like Jess.

Lee was Barney's second-in-command, the one with the British accent. He had light brown short cut hair and hazel eyes. Somehow, the stubble on his chin both softened up the look and made him look rugged at the same time.

Lastly was Barney, though she had already gotten to study him a bit more than the rest; by now, she knew how to tell them all apart.

After a few hours of conversation, the concept of sleep seemed to be on everyone's minds. Rest was much needed after what went down at the warehouse. Jess woke up minutes before landing.

The first time the mercenaries arrived, they touched ground on a landing strip owned by Los Pistoleros. This was the same case again; getting to the base was just a few minutes of walking towards the center of the city.


	5. Damsel in Distress

Damsel in Distress

Jess POV:

Salcedo was pitch black, but the cheap street lamps provided enough light for us to see its dark transformation. Trash cans were knocked over, burnt tire marks scarred the streets; no one seemed to be home. As we got closer to the base, we heard screams, mixes of manic war yells and fear-filled pleading. That's when my steady heart beat quickened as if I had just run a marathon. And I jogged ahead of the boys, knowing that something was definitely not right.

_Please don't be what I think it is_, I thought as I sprinted during the last 5 minutes.

It was.

The first thing I saw was people lined up, their hands on their heads and facing a wall. Then I heard the rumble of bullets tearing each of them apart. Lastly, I saw a group of Cinco Reyes members, holding AK-47s and standing over the dead bodies. It took some serious willpower not to charge them right there.

"What is it?" Barney whispered behind me.

"Cinco Reyes," I replied plainly.

"And your friends?" Gunner asked.

I didn't reply. Instead, I led them through alleyways and dark streets, knowing Cinco Reyes wouldn't care about checking them. Once we were out of earshot, I began to speak in whispers.

"If there's no gunfire, there was no fight. But this place is destroyed...the fighting is over. Cinco Reyes won." I deduced as we crept into the dark city.

"I just want to know what happened to the losing party. _My_ party," I continued as I led them through a maze of tight side streets.

"They never bother to sweep these parts of the city, so we should be under the radar for now," I assured them as we advanced in pairs: me and Barney, Toll Road and Gunnar, Yang and Hale Caesar, and Lee covering us from behind.

"Unless…" I halted behind a small apartment building so the guys could catch up to me.

"Unless what?" Lee whispered.

I looked around, searching for a familiar little white light hidden in the shadows.

"Shit," I froze when I found it a few yards to our left. The rest of the guys looked confused but stood still when they sensed my alertness.

"That's one of our surveillance cameras. If they're in the base…"

We all stared at it for a moment like a pack of terrified deer until I began to move cautiously around the corner of the building, away from its line of sight.

"They know where we are." Toll Road finished as they followed. I nodded and crossed the street towards a few small stores. We rounded towards the back where we were hidden by some trees and bushes.

"This should help get a better view," I said as I leaped on a garbage can and hauled myself up the roof of a store.

"Don't hurt yourself, princess. We already healed you up once, it would be a pain to do it again," Lee quipped. As if on cue, I winced from the sharp pain in my leg wound as I reached the top. Nevertheless, I rolled my eyes at the 6 mercenaries below me.

I looked up into the horizon, where I could see several bright lights posted in the shape of an octagon—my base. Now it was overrun by Cinco Reyes, no doubt.

_And Los Pistoleros?_

I just hoped by some miracle that they were still alive. I saw that a few men were posted up on the sentry tower, passing by each other with rifles held firmly in their arms. I spent about a minute studying their movements. Each one stood at the corner opposite the other person, so their backs were facing each other. After 30 seconds or so, they switched places. Every once in a while, they would respond to a call on their radios. They seemed calm at the moment.

At the front of the base, there were at least 4 armored vehicles stationed there and about 4 times as much Cinco Reyes members. And they all looked pretty suited up for a battle. But many didn't seem very focused or attentive.

_Must be new recruits._

"Okay," I breathed nervously. I cracked my knuckles and hopped off the roof, joining my new acquaintances.

They circled around me as I filled them in on what I saw.

* * *

><p>"So the north and south of the base are guarded," Gunner summarized.<p>

"What about the east and west?" Barney asked with his arms crossed and his rifle slung across his back.

"Wait a minute…north is where?" Toll Road asked as if they were speaking alien.

"North is our direction, idiot." Hale Caesar thumped the back of his head.

They began to argue in low voices but they were wise enough to shut up when Jess threatened to kick their balls in if they didn't stop.

"Thanks," Barney nodded to her. "You just saved me from one more headache."

"I have kids on my team, too. I know what it's like to have to deal with them," she returned the gesture with a small smile. The rest of the Expendables regarded her comment with irritated looks, at which Barney and Jess chuckled. "Anyway, let's get back on topic; there are lives at stake here, both civilian and mercenary." They nodded at her and she continued on.

"I didn't get to see the east and west because it was too dark, but if I were to take a guess, I'd say they're probably guarded lightly, since the masses are mostly out wreaking havoc in the city," she tapped her chin in thought as she stared into space.

For some reason, Barney found that look on her remotely intriguing. He allowed the corners of his lips to lift a centimeter before he realized that people were around and might notice. He forced that odd, half-giddy feeling in his stomach to die down and he composed his lips back into their normal, parallel state.

They all fell into silence as they tried to think of ways to sneak into the base. After a few minutes, Jess suddenly leaped back onto the garbage can and onto the roof.

"She's quite a hopper," Lee muttered to Barney.

"I heard that!" Her voice from above made them all chuckle. Minutes later, she returned with them once more with a determined look on her face.

"Alright, here's the deal. The slope on the southwestern side, near the watch tower, is the shortest one of all. That's why we put the watch tower there—so that there was extra protection on that side. Maybe if you guys give me a lift…or there might be a tree I can climb onto nearby…" she muttered, "I can get to the watch tower and take those guys out. From there—"

"What do we do after you're up?" Yang asked. A confused look spread across her face.

"You go home," she said in a 'duh' tone.

"You alone against 100 guys?" Toll Road asked as if she was insane. She shrugged.

"This isn't your battle. It's mine. You shouldn't get caught up in this. Mess with Cinco Reyes, and you're in deep shit."

Barney scoffed, his arms still crossed. "How bad could they be?"

"They've got some experience, but numbers and equipment is also a big advantage. But the dangerous part is when they cry 'help' and Mama Bear, Mexico's largest drug cartel, comes to defend them. That's a whole other deal. One that is tiring, bloody, and fatal."

"All the more reason why you shouldn't go out there," Lee reasoned.

"You can't seriously think you'll save your friends alone. Be realistic." Gunner added.

"It's the only plan I've got. I have to try—I owe them that much." She sighed. "Your plane is more or less northwest from here. If you're not too scared of heights, I recommend using the roofs as your travel guide, just be quiet," she told them as she pulled out her pistol and cocked it.

And just like that, she raced off towards the base. Soon enough, she disappeared into the dark night, moving quickly but cautiously with silent footsteps.

Minutes after she was out of sight, Barney still held his gaze towards her direction.

"You alright?" Lee asked him.

"I don't know…" he muttered, not once breaking his stare into the shadows that ate her up.

"Girl's got some balls," Hale Caesar commented. The Expendables all chuckled for a moment in agreement.

"She's up against some bad odds," Yang added to the conversation.

"Yeah," Barney dropped his head slightly.

"Wonder how she'd do if she had some assistance?" Lee grinned at his best friend. He knew that look on his face before, when he wanted to rescue Sandra. Now that he thought about it, Barney hadn't smiled much since she told him of her marriage. Today seemed to be a different story. Today he smiled, he chuckled…even if he thought no one noticed.

"You heard her—" Barney began, though he couldn't resist a little smile.

"Hear what?" He feigned innocence. He turned to Hale Caesar.

"You hear her say something?" He asked.

"Nope." Hale shook his head nonchalantly.

"How 'bout you, Yang?" Lee turned to him.

"I heard nothing," he shrugged with an equal casual air.

Lee turned back to Barney, who was now donning a grin.

"What do you say?"

"I say let's go save the damsel in distress," he smiled as he retrieved his rifle from his back.

"Round two," Gunner chuckled as he armed himself as well.

The rest of the Expendables followed suit, and off they went in the direction Jess had gone to. After a few minutes of blindly running straight, they were relieved to see the base's view getting larger, which meant they were closer.

Using Jess's advice, Gunner had climbed on top of the nearest building and hopped from roof to roof ahead of the guys so he could guide them. His long legs and stature made their travel time much shorter than their previous blind-running attempt, and soon enough, they had reached the east wall of the base.

Using the small but densely packed clump of forest-like trees as cover, they managed to bypass the few guards stationed at the east. Jess was right; there were only about 5 men idling about and chatting with each other.

Next, they had to get from the southeast to the southwest areas of the base. This was tougher because there were fewer trees to cover them. There were also some more vigilant guards walking by here and there. Still, there was no sign of Jess. Gunner looked up at the watch tower.

"They're calm. Nothing's gotten them suspicious. Just talking on the radio like it's a normal day."

"She hasn't taken them out yet? Then where the hell is she?" Toll Road muttered.

They kept their eyes on the guards. Soon enough, only seconds later, Jess swiftly hopped from the darkness and onto the platform above the tower. To Cinco Reyes, in the midst of the night air, she was a barely visible shadow.

To the Expendables, she was a woman who was risking her life to save her friends. She was walking straight to her death armed with a pistol and a fuck-you attitude.

They watched as she moved to one corner of the platform, pulled a knife from a sheath strapped to her shin, and waited. When she heard one guard finish his radio conversation with another, she hopped into the tower and made quick work of him and his partner with her blade.

"Let's go." Barney said. They moved as one unit quietly until they reached the short slope Jess had mentioned. They chose to haul up Yang, since he was the lightest, and then Gunner, the second lightest. The rest would move via the east wall, since it was the least guarded, and make their entrance from there.

At the tower, Jess wiped her blade clean on one of the dead guards' bodies and moved to the ladder below when she heard odd sounds from the outside of the south wall.

Her heart pounded loudly in her ears as her anxiety grew, but she tried to ignore it and focus on neutralizing the threat instead. Pulling out her gun and flicking the safety off, she pointed it at the direction of the noise.

Up popped a small head with short black hair, then up came the rest of the body. It was small too, but also agile. The next head was larger, with dirty blonde locks. The owner was like King Kong compared to his partner, with long legs and arms. Both men looked very, _very_ familiar.

"What are you guys doing here?" She whispered sharply as she lowered her gun. "I told you to go back!"

"We decided to take a detour." Gunner told her as he and Yang collected the dead bodies' guns and ammunition.

"To help a friend in need," Yang's smile looked almost childlike and innocent if it weren't for the rifle held snugly in his arms. Jess chuckled at the sight and gave them both a relieved smile in return.

"And the others?"

"Making their own entrance. You know, guns blazing and fireworks and shit," Gunner chuckled. "Let's save some fellow mercs. Lead the way."


	6. Negotiations

Negotiations

She walked them over to the edge of the tower, where there was a ladder that led to the ground. Once they all slid down, Jess opened a trap door concealed by dust and dirt. This led to another ladder connecting to underground tunnels.

"Cute basement," Gunner's voice echoed throughout the dark, dim pathways.

"Ssh!" She slapped his arm, inching herself cautiously against the left wall. She motioned for Yang and Gunner to mimic her movements.

"I don't know if _they_ know about our basement…" She explained in whispers as they weaved through mazes of tunnels. It was silent, save for their echoing steps and the drip-drop sound of condensation hitting the cement floor. After a few minutes, they came up to a steel door.

"Okay. I'm breaching in 3. Cover me?" Jess turned to them. They nodded and she turned back to the door, bracing herself against it.

"3…2…" She placed a C4 she gathered from the Cinco Reyes members on the watch tower and set it. The three mercs ran away and hit the ground to protect themselves when the explosion initiated. Debris and shredded steel rained upon them, but they emerged unharmed.

Jess stepped in the room first, with Yang and Gunner trailing behind her. The tallest mercenary let out a low whistle as he took in the contents of the room. Bright fluorescent lights reflected off the steel walls, which were lined up with a variety of equipment.

Along the far wall was an assortment of pistols, rifles, and sniping equipment. To their left and right, in the corners, were three black motorcycles and two Escalades, also black. Stacked up along half of the right wall were fuel tanks. And scattered around the room were spare car parts and mechanical tools.

"Correction: _Sexy _basement."

Jess smiled and shook her head at the two men gazing at their surroundings. Her eyes followed theirs when they landed on a small pile of black luggage bags just behind one of the Escalades.

"What the hell?" Jess whispered, slowly approaching the bags. She opened each one and investigated the contents.

Two bags were full of clothing-_her_ clothing. The next one held precious documents and other trinkets that she'd never discard if her life depended on it. The last bag contained cash, no more than $150,000.

It seemed that Los Pistoleros had been prepared to leave Salcedo. But how? Things seemed to be going well until it looks like they might have run out of time.

_Out of time._

Was Jess out of time?

Gunner and Yang noticed her sudden quiet behavior, so they drew her attention back to them.

"Something wrong?" Yang asked.

She froze, stuck between a question she had no answer to and her own list of unanswered questions.

"Uh..." She stammered. Silence befell them for a brief seconds.

"Never mind," she shook her head, as if all the worrying thoughts and doubts that swarmed her mind would fly off like water droplets from a wet dog. She took a deep breath and forced herself to regain composure. Quickly, she loaded up the two bags into one of the Escalades, using this opportunity to mentally smack herself back into the present. She turned to face the two mercenaries.

"Well, first stop at the base tour," she began walking across the room.

"This is the emergency underground exit. We've got escape vehicles, weapons, ammunition, fuel for the jet-"

"You fly?" Gunner inquired.

She nodded, pointing to the bandana wrapped around her leg. "Served in the US Air Force for a few years. But that's a story for another time."

She walked up to a keypad on the far right wall, punched in a few codes, and waited.

"The elevator is the only other way up to the main building...let's just hope Cinco Reyes haven't realized that yet."

A _ding_ alerted them that their ride had come. They all stepped inside, clutching their rifles protectively and waited anxiously as they rose aboveground. Another _ding _signaled their arrival and the doors slid open to reveal a brightly lit hallway. They stuck to the walls of the elevator for protection from anyone who might be on patrol.

Jess popped out her head and strode out first, limping as swiftly as she could with her pistol cocked back. Yang followed five seconds later and Gunner came behind him. As she neared the end of the hall, Jess pressed herself against the wall. She peered carefully around the corner and sped off down a stairwell when she saw that there was no guard nearby.

Running silently through a maze of hallways, Jess finally stopped at a set of steel double doors. She heard the soft thuds of Gunner and Yang's feet slow down as they approached her. She took a deep breath. A small layer of sweat accompanied her racing heartbeat.

"This is it," she paused and turned to them. "Once we step through that door, it's guns blazing on both sides of the battle. It's a big room shaped like an octagon. But watch out, the cover in there won't be very effective or nearby, so stick to the wall instead."

They nodded in confirmation to her instructions. They leaned against the wall for cover as per her advice. 3 seconds later, Gunnar kicked open the door, and several yells and screams erupted from the room.

"Mátenlos! (Kill them!)" A male voice boomed from inside.

"What the hell?" A female voice from inside yelled afterward.

Cinco Reyes thugs sprayed their bullets aimlessly at the wall, hoping to destroy it. This made counteroffensive plans very frustrating and difficult for the three mercenaries, seeing as there was a never-ending shower of gunfire coming at them. Once their opponents paused to reload, they popped out in turns and fired in rapid succession, starting with Yang, then Jess, and finally Gunner.

Once Jess peered from behind the wall her eyes took notice of about 15 armed men when a group of tied up people caught her attention. She recognized their faces immediately as decade-old memories flooded her vision. They were her friends, people she had grown up with and went through countless struggles. Together, they took the lives of countless men in exchange for cold, hard cash. And here they were, tied up like pretty princesses while she got off scot-free.

Once they made eye contact with Jess, it was hard for her to look away. So she didn't.

A trigger-full burst of bullets would have penetrated her skull if Gunner hadn't yanked her out of the way in time.

"What are you doing?!" He chastised as Yang fired his gun.

"Sorry. Lost focus," she breathed anxiously as the sound of gunfire resounded in her eardrums. By now her heart beat was pounding so loud she thought she might confuse it with the gunfight going on around her.

Gunner gave her an acknowledging nod and popped out from his cover to back up Yang. He knew it must have been tough for her to see her team tied up and vulnerable like that.

Suddenly, the ceiling above them collapsed into the room. Dust, ceiling lights, glass, and sheet rock fell from the heavens and everyone ducked for cover in response.

And then the cavalry arrived.

As shadowed figures rappelled down, they fired their rifles, eliminating the rest of the Cinco Reyes gunmen. They touched ground and unhitched from their gear, meeting face to face with Jess, Gunner, and Yang, while the rest of Los Pistoleros-still tied up-were in the middle of the room.

The first face to come into visibility once the dust cleared was Barney's, who earned a relieved look (masked by curiosity) from Jess right away. Behind him were Lee, Hale Caesar, and Toll Road. It was almost like a reunion, if it weren't for the piles of dead bodies, blood, and debris everywhere.

"Long time, no see," Jess quipped, more to Barney than the rest.

"I hate goodbyes," Barney gave a small smile back. He knew the guys would definitely get at him for this later, but at the moment, it seemed right.

She nodded and turned to her own group of mercenaries, who were bombarding her with confused questions.

"What the hell, Jess?! Didn't these guys just kidnap you?!" Lopez yelled.

"Well, you can keep her!" Hale Caesar responded.

"We don't take refunds!" Lopez yelled, just for the hell of it and to get attention. Jess rolled her eyes at his behavior. What an idiot.

But his plan worked, and he had everyone in the room chuckling, knowing that given Jess's aggressive personality, there would be no surprise if future kidnappers wanted to return her. Laughing, she spoke to her team.

"First of all, _you_ guys are the ones tied up like you're in some bondage type porno. You're in no condition to be interrogating _me_. Second, we can all sit around a campfire and share stories later. Right now, we need to get the hell out of here. These fine boys," she motioned over to the Expendables, who had now regrouped together to one side of the room, "gave us a short window of time. We're not letting it go to waste."

"So," she walked over to Alexis and Lopez and used her blade from her shin to cut off the rope that tied their hands together.

"Let's get your hands untied, and we'll head off to the jet."

She moved to set free the rest of Los Pistoleros with assistance from Barney and Hale Caesar, while the Expendables searched the room for weapons to hand out to Los Pistoleros. Once their hands were all free and wielding rifles and handguns, Jess spoke again.

"Alright, is there anything we're missing before we ditch this place?"

She kept a straight face, though it pained her as much as it pained her team to know that they were going to leave the place they called home. She knew by the looks in their eyes that they hated to have to start anew again. The people of Salcedo-whatever was left of them-were their friends. Jess knew that Los Pistoleros felt like they had let them down. They were fleeing the scene while they still could, which was not the same that the citizens of Salcedo could say about themselves.

"Well, just to get you up to speed, all our files and data are safe and sound in a hard drive that's been removed from the base's systems. All we need now is a direction to go," Luke told her, a hint of solemnity in his voice.

She nodded to him when a loud explosion was heard from somewhere in the base. Her eyes widened in fear that they might not have enough time to escape, but she forced these thoughts away and focused on getting everyone to the basement elevator. The Expendables and Los Pistoleros managed to squeeze in it, literally, reaching the basement before any Cinco Reyes members.

After everyone loaded up their weapons on the two Escalades, Victor, Roberto and Jess searched the basement for last minute things they might need or shouldn't leave behind for Cinco Reyes. By the time they were finishing up their second sweep of the place, Los Pistoleros and the Expendables had already buckled themselves inside the two vehicles. Now all they needed was the last driver: Jess.

She was walking over to the driver's side and almost touched the door handle when a big bang sound echoed through the tunnel opening to her left. Seconds later, she heard yells and sounds of cocked rifles and booted feet pound against the floor. She peeked her head to see several armed men running towards her.

_Shit!_ She thought, immediately regretting blowing up the door a few minutes ago. Now she couldn't slam a steel door on the face of danger. Now was the time to run. She raced to the car, swung the door open, and hopped in the seat. Driving the other car was Hale Caesar, who, among everyone else, was yelling for her to start the car already.

"I'm going, I'm going!" She yelled back frantically, placing the keys in the ignition and slamming her foot on the gas pedal. Escape became dependent on speed and control.

Jess led ahead as she drove through the escape route with Hale following closely behind. There was a muddy road weaving through the edges of the forest and was surrounded by the darkness of night that would lead them to a paved airstrip that was home to Jess's baby, her prized possession: the jet.

The only problem was that a blazing wall of fire rose in the sky at least 12 feet high at their destination. Through the flames there were bits and pieces of the jet that could be seen. Jess's eyes widened at the sight.

"…HELL NO!" She gripped at the steering wheel as she slowed the car to a stop.

"Damn. She's gonna shit puppies right about…now," Victor drew out a sharp breath as she hopped off the car and stormed towards her flaming jet.

"Those MOTHERFUCKING, COCK SUCKING, SON OF A BITCH PRICKS!" Jess fumed. A sea of threats and curse words left her mouth as Alexis joined her.

"They were staking out the place when we moved in," she deduced.

Jess tried to compose herself through deep breaths. "What if they knew we were moving in beforehand? What if they were just preparing all this time?" She said with worry.

"Shit." Alexis crossed her arms, puzzled.

"Hey! You can have your tea and crumpets later. Right now we have to leave!" Lee yelled from the second car.

"Leave?! We can't outrun them by car, they've got plenty of cars!" Jess yelled frantically.

"Exactly!" He replied. Jess and Alexis exchanged confused looks.

"Just follow us!"

"You sure we should trust these guys?" Alexis whispered to her friend as they made their way back to the cars.

"You have a better plan?" Jess asked. Alexis shrugged and they hopped back inside the car.

Hale Caesar sped off into the forest and Jess followed him into the densely packed territory. She could hear a mixture of yelling, screaming, gunfire, and the troubling rumble of several vehicles approaching.

"Where are they taking us?" She muttered to herself as she stared at the headlights of the car before her.

The ride was bumpy but suddenly they left the forest territory and entered a spacious parking lot to one of the big chain supermarkets in Salcedo. They cut straight through the lot and headed towards rolling, dusty roads. These wove around and in between many clumps of small neighborhoods until they transitioned to rocky terrain: the ports.

There was a shape of large mass nearby as they approached it. Lopez walked ahead of the others in curiosity and read the text on the tail with a large image of a raven perched on a globe.

"'Global Wildlife Conservancy'? Nice." He chuckled, knowing it was total bullshit.

"What are we doing here?" Jess asked the same thing that the rest of her team was wondering.

"I bet they don't have planes to chase us down," Lee grinned at the confused faces of Los Pistoleros.

"Load up, I'll explain on the way," he continued.

In minutes, the cars had been emptied as the bags they once carried were now loaded onto the Expendables' plane. Los Pistoleros and the Expendables squeezed in as Barney started the engine and took off. While her team got itself acquainted with the Expendables, Jess was led into the cockpit by Lee. He closed the door behind them so the three could have privacy and he sat in the co-pilot seat next to Barney. Jess leaned against the door and gave Lee a confused look as he turned to her. He handed her a headset so the three could chat without the plane's engine muffling their conversation.

"Okay, what's this about?" Jess crossed her arms and looked at them suspiciously after putting on the headset.

"We have a proposition for you," Lee said. Jess scrunched her brows in confusion, but didn't interrupt.

"Since you helped us out there with Pelham, we decided to help you and your team out." Lee told her.

"Look, not to be ungrateful or anything, but you helped us out with the ambush, don't you think we're even now?"

"You want to hear the rest or not?" Lee looked stern. Jess sighed and nodded for him to continue.

"Right now, we're en route to Chalmette, Louisiana. It's the place where we store the plane until it's needed for another mission. From there, we drive to our HQ in New Orleans. Here's what we propose: from the looks of it, you and your crew are running from an enemy that's slowly closing in on you. Since it's been a while since you've been in the US, you probably won't ruffle Uncle Sam's feathers very much, so you've got a new country to call home for the moment. That can give you time to figure out who's been behind the ambush; I think we all know that Cinco Reyes didn't sneak up behind you by a lucky chance. There's an empty building right across the street from our HQ. If your team buys it out, we can easily stay in touch. You guys can get back up on your feet, and find out who's been messing with you."

"That's a generous offer. What's in it for you?" Jess crossed her arms over her chest and eyed him suspiciously.

"We want an alliance...at least for a while. We want to know everything you know-enemies, black market deals, criminal hotspots, etc. Additionally, we want you to assist us in taking on some of the bigger missions that would run more smoothly with the extra manpower."

"You want to combine our teams?" Jess asked.

"Basically," Lee answered.

"Temporarily," Jess added. Lee nodded to her response.

"At least until you find out who's tailing you. Chances are, they know us too. They'll be searching for us together now. Why not combine our resources and eliminate a common enemy?"

She mulled the idea over in her head, thinking of all the pros and cons to agreeing to an alliance. "How long do we have to decide?"

"How much time do you need?" He asked.

"Enough time to talk about it with my team, get their heads wrapped around the idea, and reach a consensus. Before all that happens though, I need to talk alone with Alexis." Jess bit her lip as she thought.

"So..." Lee pushed for a concrete answer.

"Give us 3 days," Jess said.

"3 days?" Lee asked and she nodded. "That'll work," he nodded in agreement.

"Alright. Then we'll chat again in 3 days." Jess uncrossed her arms and gave a slight nod in his direction before taking off her headset and excusing herself from the cockpit. When she left, Lee turned to Barney to gauge his reaction.

"What do you think?" Lee asked.

"She's a careful one. I bet she could make a decision in 1 day. She wanted 3 just to keep us in suspense," Barney muttered with a cigar between his lips.

"Yeah, she is." Lee remarked. This was bad for them because that meant she could play mind games. She also seemed to be a hard negotiator. "You think she trusts us?"

"Not really," Barney replied. She might have been grateful that the Expendables just saved her and her team, but she didn't look ready to risk her life for them.

"Well, if shit hits the fan, we can take them down quickly. They're still licking their wounds. I doubt they're ready for another fight." Lee stated. Barney let out a puff of smoke and nodded as he continued the flight to Louisiana.

The trip back would take a tiring 24 hours. Fortunately, Jess was also a pilot, so she agreed to take shifts with Barney. It was suggested that she join him in the cockpit as his co-pilot during his shift, and vice versa during her shift. Lee left his seat beside his best friend and joined the two teams of mercenaries in the back, who seemed to surprisingly get along well.

Up in the cockpit, Jess sat in Lee's seat, put on her headset and adjusted her mic so she and Barney could communicate more clearly. The first few moments were quiet and awkward, seeing as they didn't know each other well and were now obligated to work together as a duo to get their teams back to the US in one piece. Jess busied herself by looking at a map of Mexico and examining Barney's route, which he had taken when the Expendables traveled to Salcedo earlier.

"So how long you been flying?" Barney asked, bringing her mind to focus on their current situation.

"Almost 5 years," Jess cleared her throat. "I did ROTC during college, dropped out of school, and joined the Air Force. You?"

"US Army Ranger with some flying experience." He replied.

"So what happened?" She inquired. He was a mercenary now, and she was curious as to how an Army Ranger like him transitioned into the mercenary life.

He hesitated for a moment, but decided to tell her an edited version of his past. "Went rogue after seein' some crazy shit. I made amends with Uncle Sam through bounty hunting and doing their dirty work. Now I work for myself."

Jess wanted to ask what he had seen that changed him so much and put him in such a dark situation, but she knew better than to poke and prod into someone's past. She decided to compensate for the memory of his trauma by telling him her own story.

"A while back I was doing a mission in Brazil," she cleared her throat so she wouldn't choke up, also grabbing Barney's attention in the process. "I had transferred from the Air Force to working for a private security company. We were flying in pairs of three, me and my partner being the squad leaders. The mission was to protect the area from incoming attacks-air, ground, naval, all of it. At one point, we had called in for backup so we could focus on the aces in the air. My partner and I were trying to corner one of them when his plane was hit by an incoming missile."

She forced down the lump in the back of her throat. "It spun out of control when I managed to take out the ace. When I realized he was going down, I saw that the rest of our squad was attacking the city we were paid to protect. Turns out our company was dealing under the table the whole time. And it looked like the rest of my squad was in on it."

"So what did you do?" He asked, genuinely curious now.

"I turned on them," she replied, her voice no longer shaky, but angry. "My partner was shot down from his parachute by our own squad members. I wasn't gonna let that fly by. I blew up each one of those motherfuckers. I went solo for a while after, doing jobs here and there. Later on, I met up with Alexis and the rest back in the states to catch up. We ended up forming a team together, and we've been in the merc business ever since." Jess finished and chewed on her lip during the following silence. She wanted to slap herself. She couldn't believe she just told him, a complete stranger, about her past.

Barney had a thought to add, but decided not to mention it just yet. He responded instead by sharing his sympathy for her loss. Now it was his turn to be comforting.

"You got a good team on your back. Seems like there's a big bond between all of you." He said.

Jess smiled at this. "Yeah. I guess they're like my family. They act like children so often it's annoying, but they're good people." Barney smirked at how her team acted childishly, because it was the same for him and his team as well.

"Hm. I can relate," he chuckled. They shared a smile together, then spent a few hours or so in silence or with little conversation. Suddenly, something came to Barney's mind.

"So what's the deal with you and Pelham?" He could see Jess stir nervously ever so slightly from his peripheral vision.

"Uh...long story?" She weakly tried to get out of it, already knowing what he would reply with.

"Long trip," he smiled, knowing that if it was something she was reluctant to tell, it had to be interesting. She sighed and gave up.

"I used to be one of his bodyguards, actually. I was fine with doing the dirty work, killing people, pushing drugs, stealing shipments. But, one time it was just too much. He ordered his own bodyguard to be executed. The guy was a friend of mine, he never did anything wrong. But Pelham thought he was sneaking around and was suspicious of him. Ryan wasn't a saint, but he didn't deserve to be killed for something he didn't do. Pelham wouldn't listen to me anyway. So...I turned on him too. I'm not gonna say I regret it, but it did make my life hell."

"You seem to get in a lot of trouble for helping out your friends," Barney remarked. Jess shrugged.

"They're all I've got."

"So you never go solo?"

"Lots of times. And when I do, they help steer me away if I'm in over my head." Barney smiled to himself. The Expendables did the same thing after the Sandra incident. Even her name made him cringe. But his friends definitely helped him through the feeling of betrayal and loneliness. The alcohol helped as well.

"Yeah. I know what you mean," he said. A few more hours of flying in silence followed, then it was Jess's turn to be the pilot. Barney could feel his heavy eyes slowly close, and finally sleep overcame him. Jess looked over at her co-pilot and smiled at his sleeping form. His muscled arms were crossed over his chest, and his head was bowed down slightly. He still had his aviator sunglasses on, but they couldn't cover up his dozing behavior.

Hours into Barney's shift, they noticed they were low on fuel. Suddenly, Jess wished she would have brought the jet's fuel. But of course, it was still in the underground basement. Way back in Salcedo. They decided to stop at Monahans, a small town in Texas. They landed the plane at a safe location and Jess went to tell their confused passengers what was going on.

"Alright kids, time for a pit stop," she announced.

"Pit stop? What's the matter?" Lee asked in confusion as the plane's propellers slowed down.

"Out of fuel," Barney exited the cockpit and answered the question. A mix of groans and sounds of joy were emitted from the mercenaries.

"Let's go find a rental and a hotel," Jess suggested. With Los Pistoleros' luggage in hand, they all exited the plane in search of a place to rent cars. Once they stepped foot on solid ground, complaints about the arid climate soon followed.

"Shit, Jess! My balls are gonna fry in this fuckin place!" Lopez exclaimed, leading the group into the town.

"Don't worry, nobody gives a fuck about your tiny dick anyway," she snickered in return, lagging behind with Barney since they were more tired than the rest of the mercenaries. Many laughs and 'fuck you's were said after her taunt when they came up to the car rental place. They decided on two Escalades since they already knew everyone would fit fine.

Then, they set out in search of a hotel, which wasn't very hard to find; the problem was finding enough rooms for everyone. Barney and Jess asked the concierge if there were enough rooms for each person.

"I'm sorry, but we only have double bed rooms left. I recommend you make reservations next time," she smiled at Jess with dull eyes, taking more interest in her manicured nails than the customers before her. Barney could see that Jess had the urge to punch the woman, so he stepped in.

"We'll take them." After paying for the rooms and grabbing the keys, the two leaders walked back to their teams. They looked bored out of their minds, wanting to run, stretch their legs, do something productive and exciting. When they saw Barney wave the key cards, their eyes grew wide and shiny, like a child's in a candy store. They wanted to get their rooms as soon as possible to finally get to do something fun with their time.

Originally, Jess was going to be with Alexis, since they were the only girls; but Los Pistoleros and the Expendables-minus Jess and Barney-weren't tired because they had already slept enough during the trip. What they really wanted was excitement, so they partnered up based on who was planning to go out for drinks. Additionally, Jess and Barney still needed to find a place to buy fuel for the plane, so that left Alexis with no other alternative but to pick from the rest of the mercenaries.

In the end, the pairs were Luke and Roberto, Lee with Hale Caesar and Yang, Lopez and Victor, Erik and Gunner, and since Alexis seemed to get along fine with Toll Road, she partnered up with him. That left the last room for Jess and Barney. Gunnar, Luke, and Roberto stayed behind to find something to do around the town, while the rest took off on one car to look for a bar or a club. Meanwhile, Jess and Barney used the other car to find a place that sold gas cans.

Driving through the old and not-so-populated city, Jess and Barney grew tired and anxious as it got dark. They had a map, but had no idea where the next gas station was located, so try resorted to aimlessly searching street by street until they finally came up to one a few blocks from the hotel. Logic worked in their minds as they saw supermarkets and cheap makeshift stores around it. The station itself also looked pretty rundown. Jess could hardly believe that it could sustain the entire town, as small as it was. They pulled up at the gas station, standing out in all its solitary glory.

For some reason, the gentleman bug bit Barney at that moment, compelling him to exit the car and walk to the other side to open Jess's door for her. Meanwhile, Jess had been focused on observing the area around them, noticing the poor conditions, when her opened door alerted her to turn to her side. There was Barney, holding the door open, looking at her with a straight face, despite her silently suspecting that he never did this, and him _knowing_ that he never did this.

She shyly mumbled her thanks and got out, mentally slapping herself for gawking around like an idiot instead of opening her own damn door. It's not that she wasn't thankful, but she wasn't as fond of chivalry as most women were; she preferred to be independent, to do things on her own. Her pride demanded her to refuse help whenever possible, to hide feelings of insecurity and fear, and to never back down. Barney had caught a glimpse of her stubborn behavior when she mouthed off to Pelham, and when she refused to leave Los Pistoleros behind in Salcedo.

He closed the door after her and they proceeded to walk to the store to talk to the clerk, both examining their environment for any suspicious activity or danger. They spoke to the clerk, a middle aged man with extra weight on him who seemed to take a liking to Jess's body. She could practically feel his eyes glaze over with lust and a late-night hard on as he walked around the counter and held out his hand in front of her.

He waved to the door they just entered from, trying to be a gentleman in hopes that she'd give it up for him. She gave him a fake smile, hoping to get this over with ASAP so she could wipe the smile off her face. She walked ahead, but before the clerk could storm after her to get a view from her behind, Barney stepped in right after her. He knew that the man was hoping to get lucky. _Not tonight, asshole_, he thought.

The clerk walked them around to the back, seeming to give up on Jess after he saw Barney's efforts to be at her heels. As the man began to fill up 5 canisters for them, Barney and Jess stood together at a distance from him, speaking in hushed tones.

"Get back to the car, I'll stay with him," Barney told her. Jess clicked her tongue.

"No way, I'm staying," she muttered, her pride taking over again. Just because the guy was ogling her didn't mean she couldn't defend herself if he got too close.

"Get to the car," he repeated, this time annoyed. "Keep the engine running, I got this," he grabbed her arm firmly and looked into her eyes sternly.

"My ass," she jerked her arm away and crossed her arms defiantly, meeting his stare with a rebellious one of her own. "Just cause this idiot's staring at me doesn't give you permission to be my fuckin bodyguard. _You_ go to the car, I'm staying here," she spoke in a low and threatening tone, with a menacing look to match. Before he got a chance to really knock some sense into her, she quickly approached the clerk.

"Here, I'll help you," she offered, looking at Barney with a satisfied look as he glared at her. The clerk handed her two full canisters to take back to the car. On her way there, she passed by Barney with a challenging look and he responded with another pissed glare as he walked up to the clerk and picked up two canisters as well. When they both returned, Barney paid the man and Jess picked up the last canister from him.

"So," he began counting the money and flashed Jess a mischievous look. "Think I could get your number?" He smirked at her.

Jess reacted with a scowl on her face. Barney held in a chuckle at the fire in her eyes. She seemed ready to claw his eyes out, but instead she scoffed and replied "Not a chance in hell." The man's jaw dropped slightly as they walked away. Barney snuck a look at her, and she gave him a small smirk, one that he responded to with a chuckle. Just like that, their little feud over chivalry and Jess's stubborn attitude was over. She put in the last fuel canister and they entered the car; this time Barney left Jess to open her own door since she made it clear she liked it that way.

The drive back was peacefully silent as they made their way to the warehouse where they stored the plane for the night. When they arrived, they got straight to work, Jess handing Barney a new canister each time he emptied one in the plane's tank.

"So, I take it you don't like getting hit on?" Barney asked, attempting to fill the silence as they slowly emptied out the canisters one by one. Jess chuckled.

"I guess so, considering I only attract the douchebags." Barney chuckled at her reply and tossed away another empty can.

After they filled up the plane, they drove back to the hotel, eager for a shower and some rest. Jess got a text from Alexis, saying that Los Pistoleros and the Expendables were all eating pizza together at the pool. Barney and Jess couldn't deny their stomachs food any longer; after all, they had been flying the plane for over 10 hours with just a few snacks to sustain them.

They walked over to the pool and saw that two rectangular tables had been put together to seat all 11 mercenaries, and two empty seats were reserved for their respective bosses. Jess and Barney sat in them, noticing four 12-packs of beer, or what used to be, on the table. There were also 3 large pizza boxes, 1 of them already empty. The mercs were enjoying themselves, sharing jokes, laughing at each other, and making stupid remarks, all the while trying not to fall over in their chairs and trying not to slur their speech. In other words, they were crossing the line from tipsy to drunk.

Jess rolled her eyes at her team, who tried to string insults about her having a pole up her ass when she declined a beer, though she dug in gratefully on the pepperoni pizza. Barney, on the other hand, gladly took one to refresh his parched throat.

"So what happened with the fuel situation?" Toll Road asked after he burped ungracefully.

"Taken care of," Barney replied and took a gulp of his drink.

"What's up with you guys? I thought you were clubbing?" Jess asked the mercenaries.

"We were hungry! And there was only one club we found and that shit sucked ass!" Lopez remarked bitterly at the memory of the shitty club they went to.

"Hm. Colorful language, Lopez. _Very_ academic," she remarked with a stern, motherly tone while chewing her pizza.

"Look who's talking!" Victor replied, suddenly wanting to get in on the action.

"Oh, fuck you, Vic. It's not my fault you didn't get pussy tonight," Jess laughed. The rest of the mercenaries 'ooh'ed and chuckled at her sassy remark. Then Victor returned with a burning fire.

"Hey! I'm up to my neck in pussy!" He bragged, wanting to re-inflate his ego.

"Yeah, his mom's pussy!" Erik chimed in.

"Man, fuck you guys!" Victor said and chugged down the rest of his beer as the mercenaries all laughed at the previous argument.

"Shit, you guys sound like Toll Road and Hale Caesar," Lee chuckled and drank some beer. Yang and Gunner nodded and laughed in agreement.

"So, Christopher Columbus: what's the plan from here on out?" Gunner motioned his head towards Barney's general direction.

"Get up early in the morning and take off, no later than 5AM. Then-"

"Whoa, wait, do you mean get up at 5 or take off at 5, cause those are two different things," Alexis interrupted, already dreading the thought of getting up early. The groans from Gunner, Toll Road, Victor, and Lopez assured her that she was not alone.

"Take off," Barney continued. "We need to set ourselves up for a good head start; chances are your 'friends' back in Mexico are searching all over for all of us."

The groans from the 5 mercenaries mentioned before escalated dramatically, and they all chugged their beers to give themselves some satisfaction. Jess rolled her eyes at her team and stood up.

"On that note, I'll leave you guys to your drinking and throwing up. I'm gonna go take care of a stab wound. 'Night," she said as she made her way inside the hotel.

"She's not much fun, huh?" Hale Caesar remarked as she went inside. Lopez scoffed.

"Not really. She always has _something_ up her ass," he crossed his arms and ate a pizza.

"She just takes things more seriously than the rest of us, that's all," Erik defended her calmly.

"Yeah but she's allowed to let loose every once in a while," Victor muttered quietly.

"It's not like it's anything new. She's always been like that. Even in high school," Luke added.

"How long do you know each other?" Yang questioned.

"As a group? About 4 or 5 years," Alexis answered.

"And individually?" Lee asked.

"Well, Jess and Alexis have been best friends since middle school. Erik and Jess know each other from elementary school. The rest of us met her in high school," Luke explained.

" She was always a serious, mature person. But that just got intensified when she came back from the Air Force a few years ago. She didn't even come right away; a few years passed until she actually contacted us," Erik added.

"Back in Mexico; you guys were confused about why we came to get her..." Toll Road began. Los Pistoleros stayed quiet, then Alexis answered shyly.

"We had no idea what was going on. We didn't even know that she had beef with somebody in the past."

"Must have been before she came back to meet us, then," Roberto said.

"So between the time she left the force and reunited with you guys, you have no idea what she's been up to?" Barney asked, remembering what she told him about working with Pelham after leaving the private security company she worked for.

"I mean, she's never been that talkative in the first place," Alexis said, thinking about times in their friendship when Jess always opted to let someone else talk about a touchy subject, such as the past.

"Doesn't that sound a little fishy to you?" Lee asked with suspicion in his voice.

"Look, we've known Jess for years, there's nothing 'fishy' about her." Erik snapped. Alexis nodded with a stern look in her face, offended by Lee's doubt in her best friend.

"Except her vagina," Lopez chuckled, trying to lighten the mood.

"Man, you're just jealous that she never gave it up to you," Victor taunted.

"Shut up, Vic. Alexis didn't give it up when you guys were dating," Lopez smirked, downing the rest of his beer.

"Shut up, asshole." Victor muttered while Alexis shyly drank her beer, her face red at the mentioning of her relationship with Victor years back. Sure, they were just friends now, but the past was still awkward. The rest of the mercenaries eyeing the two made them uncomfortable, which opened the door for peering into the subject.

"Oh, so you two had a thing, eh?" Hale Caesar smiled from behind his beer.

"High school. You know how it is," Victor faked indifference even though his ex and now friend seemed the opposite.

"Any of you guys still dating?" Toll Road asked. Erik was the only Pistolero who raised his hand. Suddenly Lee got interested, happy that he wasn't the only one 'tied down' as his team would call it.

"How long?" He asked the other mercenary.

"4 years," he announced proudly, his chest even puffing out to accentuate his honor.

"On and off," Lopez killed the happy moment by mentioning that minor detail.

Erik scowled at him. "Not since last year. Shut up," he ate his pizza silently.

"Does she know? About your line of work?" Lee leaned closer, wanting to know the perspective of another mercenary who was in a relationship.

Erik seemed nervous at his question. "Sort of. She thinks I work for the military, as in still spec ops, and that I kill people sometimes...if necessary. That's partially true..." he fidgeted with his beer bottle, swishing it around.

"I know it's tough. My girl called it off when I wouldn't tell her what I do for a living." Lee sympathized.

"Does she know?"

Lee nodded. "How'd you break it to her?" Erik questioned.

"Well, I saved her from her abusive douche of a boyfriend. Then one night I told her everything, and we had a long talk about it," Lee explained.

"How'd she take it?" Erik asked, wanting to find the best way to finally break it to his girlfriend that he killed people for a living.

"She was shocked, no doubt about that. But it wasn't a complete surprise to her given my military background and my personality. We spent days talking about it all. I spared her the details when I could, introduced her to the boys," he gestured to the Expendables. "Eventually, she came around and accepted me and my lifestyle. We've been doing pretty good ever since," Lee explained to a hopeful Erik. Maybe that could happen to him. He dreamed of a day when he could be honest with his girl and she could accept him and his career.

"Who knows? Maybe that could be you and Nancy," Victor nudged Erik.

"I hope so," he stared thoughtfully into the bottom of his beer bottle.

"Hey, if you need any advice, I'm willing to help out. Us taken men need to stick together," Lee smiled at Erik.

"Thanks man," he smiled while the single mercenaries rolled their eyes.

"Man, enough of this loverboy shit. Next thing you know, we'll be talkin' about feelings," Toll Road complained and Lopez and Victor laughed.

"Amen to that, bro!" Lopez gave him a high five and all the single mercenaries drank a toast to their promiscuous sex lives, excluding Barney, who just drank for the hell of it.

A few more drinks later, everyone grew considerably drunk. So much so that they didn't even want to stand from their seats. Barney was glad that he had been wise to choose his sips carefully, and was at most just a bit tipsy. He was surprised that even Yang was having trouble speaking coherently. If anyone had a good hold of themselves when it came to drinking, it was Yang. Now he was alone with 11 drunk mercenaries who could barely stand, much less walk, a Mexican cartel on their backs, and a curfew to escape said cartel by morning the next day.

_What the fuck is going on?_ he thought to himself, wondering how he got himself and his team in this situation. After Jess had helped the Expendables learn of Pelham's betrayal, it only seemed fair that he could at least give her a ride home. When they arrived in Salcedo and he saw the destruction that Cinco Reyes had caused, he could have easily just left her to deal with it on her own. It was none of his concern to help her with her problems. Yet he saw that tenacity in her, that stubborn, loyal air that motivated her to charge towards an entire army. He hadn't seen half that courage in _men_, yet Jess possessed just that, and more. The last time he was impressed by a person was when he met Sandra, though now her name made him cringe inwardly and long for a few beers and maybe a cigar.

The Expendables leader shook his head, trying to fling her memory away and focus on the task at hand: how the hell was he going to lug 11 drunk mercs to their hotel rooms without grabbing attention? He was going to require some assistance, and the only person sober enough to help was Jess, who was still in their room. He sighed and ran his hand over his face, thinking of how awkward this was going to be.

"Hey guys," Barney called to the mercenaries. Some of them looked up briefly, then dropped their heads tiredly, and some of them were asleep or in the process of falling asleep. _Damn_, he thought. They looked in bad shape right now. "I'll be right back. _Don't_ do anything stupid," he warned before rising from his chair and making his way to the hotel room he shared with Jess.

One elevator ride and a few hallways later, he was knocking on the door, half expecting her to be asleep and not answer. To his surprise she did, and judging by the sound of an advertisement and the flickering lights bouncing off the walls, Barney realized she was watching TV.

"Party's over already?" She raised an eyebrow at him as she opened the door wider for him to step in, but he didn't.

"Actually, I'm having trouble carrying the drunk ones to their rooms." He replied.

"Who's drunk?"

He paused nervously. "Everyone."

"Nice," Jess rolled her eyes, expecting this behavior from her team.

"Think you can help?"

"Why not? Some heavy lifting will be good for me," she shrugged and slipped on some sneakers before joining him back to the pool. All 11 mercenaries were accounted for and were more or less in the exact same spots that Barney had left them. He began with the bigger mercenaries: Hale Caesar, Toll Road, and Gunner. Due to her injury, Jess couldn't give it her all, but she certainly tried her best as she and Barney dragged them one by one to their rooms. First was Hale Caesar, and while the man was quite drunk, he managed to get some words in during the elevator ride.

"R-Ross? S'that you?"

"Yeah, it's me," he replied.

"Everythin's so b-" he was interrupted by his own burp. "Bright."

"That's cause the elevator has lights," Barney replied.

"Dass cool man," Hale Caesar slurred. "Y-you cool, you know dat?"

Jess and Barney chuckled and took him to his room. They laid him down on the bed and Jess placed a trashcan near him in case he needed to throw up. Next was Toll Road, who seemed to be ranting about cauliflowers and such, even while they were walking away to pick up the next mercenary.

"Hey, Jess," he called out to her.

"Yeah?" she replied and stopped halfway to the door. Barney leaned against a wall nearby, curious as to what the bald mercenary had to say to her.

"You-you like callifowr's?"

Jess chuckled and replied "Yeah."

"Ya like my ears?"

She smiled and nodded "Uh-huh."

"Thanks," he gave her a large grin and closed his eyes. Barney and Jess walked out of the room and laughed together as they made their way back to the pool. They found Victor and Lopez taking a piss in the shrubs nearby. Jess's eyes widened.

"What the hell are you guys doing?!" She whispered sharply at them.

"Fertilizing! These flow'rs aren't gonna grow by themselves!" Lopez smiled and Victor nodded in agreement as they half-heartedly zipped up their pants and tried to get back to their seats. Lopez made it, albeit ungracefully, but Victor landed on his chair at an angle, causing the chair and himself to tip over. Jess rolled her eyes and ran her hand over her face, slightly embarrassed by their drunk antics. But then again, it wasn't a surprise that they'd do something this stupid, even when they were sober. She sighed and turned to Barney, who already had slung Gunner's arm over his shoulder. Jess walked over and did the same with his other arm and they made their way back into the hotel.

Gunner was too drunk to even form coherent words, and he seemed on the verge of falling asleep, which made him even heavier as he relaxed under the support of Jess and Barney. Next were Lee, Erik, and Yang. The three were pretty much as passed out as Gunner, if not, more. They were probably the best behaved of all the mercs, purely because of their inability to even speak or move. After them were Luke and Roberto, who were just plain weird and oddly giggly. During the walk back to his room, Roberto 'informed' Barney and Jess of the conspiracy that mermaids were real and that the government was hunting them down to find a cure for cancer.

"Guys, guys, guys, hear me out," he slurred.

"Oh we hear you, alright," Jess pacified his rising vocal volume.

"No, no, nooo. You don't get iht. They live in Washington. _Washington!_ You know, with Obama?" He persisted, determined to get his point across.

"Tell you what, Rob. Whenever we get free time, we'll visit them, ok?" Jess told him.

"Jess, I heard they got spears. _Spears!_ Kin you bel'ive dat?!" He tried to dramatically swing his arms out, causing him to stumble and Barney hefted him back up to his feet.

"That's amazing, man," Jess said in a whisper, hoping he would follow suit.

"We can take a fuckin' mermaid, any day," he said softly before passing out.

The last were Victor, Lopez, and Alexis, who proved to be the more difficult ones. Victor refused to co-operate and be carried to his room unless Lopez was with him, so Barney took Victor and Jess took Lopez, who was slightly lighter. This by no means meant that the journey to their room was made any easier.

"Eey, Jess! Guess what's under my pants! Guess!" Lopez chuckled.

"Marijuana?" She guessed sarcastically.

"Nooo! A pipe cleaner! HA!" He laughed loudly and while Jess clamped her hand over his mouth to not disturb the hotel's guests.

"Good one, man!" Victor tried to high five him but missed terribly. He seemed to not care, and Lopez never even noticed his drunk friend's gesture. Barney shook his head at the two and continued helping Victor not to trip on his own feet.

Finally, Alexis had been the last one, though when Barney and Jess made their way back outside, she was not in her seat. Instead, they found her teetering dangerously over the pool's edge, her intoxicated mind clearly replacing her conscious one.

"Alexis, what the fuck!" Jess yelled and ran towards her friend, whose foot was almost dipping in the water, Barney following right on her heels. She reached for Alexis, though both girls lost their balance. Startled, Alexis grasped Jess's arms and pulled on them to regain her footing. In the process, she accidentally had pulled Jess into the water, following shortly after her. Barney stopped at the edge of the pool, reaching for the shorter mercenary's elbow and pulling her harshly out of her would-have-been watery grave. Unlike her best friend, Alexis had fallen in the shallow end of the water, her feet touching the bottom of the pool. 

Seeing her shiver at the cold water, Barney quickly sat Alexis down and patted her back as she coughed out the pool water. Meanwhile, Jess, who was drenched from head to toe, resurfaced and swam to her friend's side. The worry in her face dissolved as she saw that Alexis was safe and out of the pool. Instead, a glare found itself on her face.

"You couldn't fall into a damn hot tub, huh?" She said bitterly as she shivered and tried to acclimate to the night breeze and cold water. Alexis ignored her chastisement, preoccupying herself with getting the pool water out of her lungs and respiratory system. Plus, she was drunk, so she conveniently tuned out her best friend's voice and tried to focus on staying alive. Soon enough, she began to sob.

Barney looked at Jess, confused as to what to do with the bawling mercenary. What the hell did he get himself into? Jess coughed out some pool water before she sighed. "Sometimes she's an emotional drunk. She's just in shock, she'll be fine," she explained, shaking her head in disappointment. There was a moment of silence only disturbed by Alexis's quieter sobs.

"This is why I don't drink," Jess mumbled, not intending for Barney to hear. But he did.

So _that's_ why she declined a beer. He stored the information away in his head for future reference.

He looked at her, noticing that she was completely soaked. "I'll take her back. You go change." He told her. She nodded and he held his hand out for her to take so she could get out of the pool. She shook her head at him with a shy smile and pointed to the steps nearby. He dropped his hand lamely, feeling almost foolish as he watched her step out of the pool slowly, her injury limiting the vigor of her movement.

Water dripped down her body onto the ground below her. And for the oddest reason, Barney couldn't remove his eyes from her. The white tank top that she wore stuck to her torso, outlining her flat, toned stomach and revealing her bra underneath. Her chest was smaller than Alexis's but not by much. It was humble but welcoming to Barney's eyes. Her thick low-rise jeans clung to her legs, hugging her hips for dear life. She looked good wet.

He wanted to slap himself for being so stupid. This was wrong. His train of thought was going in the wrong direction. He should be worrying about how he was going to wake up everyone tomorrow, not staring at Jess. Luckily, she didn't seem to notice his eyes glued to her wet body. She was too busy wringing the water from her hair. A groan escaped her lips as the pain from her injury gnawed at her leg. She sighed and composed herself, looking at him one last time before turning to leave. Alexis's head rose as she heard her best friend prepare to leave.

"Jess?" she called out weakly, desperately.

Jess sighed and turned to her wasted friend. "What?" The bitterness in her voice was clear, even for Alexis, who had trouble with perception in her inebriated state.

"Can-can you come with me?" Her bottom lip quivered; she was probably going to cry again, Jess figured. But seeing the hurt and lack of independence in her face pulled a bit at her heartstrings. She looked pretty bad: unkempt, wet, drunk, and sloppy. Jess sighed at Alexis's state. "Fine."

They made their way back to the room that Toll Road and Alexis shared. He was fast asleep, snoring away the night. Jess gathered some clothes, got Alexis into the shower, and sat on the toilet, helping her friend should she accidentally fall and crack her head open. Barney stood outside, sitting on a chair in the room and kept watch, simply because he needed something to do. When Alexis was more or less clean and in dry clothes, Barney and Jess easily got her into bed and walked out. In the elevator, Jess looked down at her transparent shirt with disgust.

"Wonderful," she said sarcastically. Her toned abs were on display and so was her white bra. Thank God _that_ wasn't see-through.

"I'm guessing you'll call the shower first?" Barney put his hands in his pockets, trying to avoid eye contact for fear that his eyes would wander somewhere else.

"Please?"

"You got it," he chuckled briefly.

Back at their own room, Jess stepped into the shower, the warm water attacking the number Pelham did on her leg. _Fuckin prick, _she reminisced bitterly. She lathered away the dirt and sweat from her skin and emerged clean and fresh. She dressed in shorts and a tank top and exited the bathroom to retrieve bandages to wrap around her wound. Barney made his way into the shower and did some freshening up of his own; today had been a long day.

Finished, he found her sitting at the edge of her bed, her injured leg dangling over the side and the other folded up underneath her to support the laptop on her lap. She glanced over at him and spoke. "Come here," she beckoned him. He followed, leaning over her shoulder to see what was on her computer.

It was an article, recently written, about a shootout in Salcedo, Mexico. The article referenced those involved as Cinco Reyes and 'rival gangs'. It described the firefight that Los Pistoleros and the Expendables barely escaped and the base that was infiltrated. The Mexican police was investigating at the moment, though it was debatable whether they would come up with anything substantial, given that many Mexican police were corrupt and worked with gangs.

"You thankful for leaving?" He inquired. Obviously they had all narrowly escaped death. Who knows what fate they would suffer if Cinco Reyes caught up to them.

"Maybe," she replied.

"Maybe?" He repeated, incredulous. She looked up at his confused face.

"'Every man for himself' isn't the noblest of phrases," she replied solemnly. _Ain't that the truth,_ he agreed and nodded. A few seconds of thoughtful silence followed, then Barney changed the subject.

"How's your leg?" He looked at said wound.

Jess turned to examine her bandage. "Bitchy."

She adjusted the bandage and sighed. "I'm gonna be out for a few weeks. That's gonna make _me_ bitchy, too."

He chuckled and pointed to her leg, "May I?"

"Promise it won't hurt?" She looked up at him.

"Promise," he said and kneeled down to undo the white cloth wrapped around her leg. It became increasingly red as he neared the end of it, a substantially large puncture in the form of a slash oozing a little blood as well. Barney gently poked around the wound to see how much, if any at all, blood would pour out. Jess gritted her teeth and winced, turning to her wound, the cause of her pain.

"Starting now," he added and asked her where extra bandages and antiseptic were. She directed him to her bag on the table and he returned with these items. Without warning, he applied the burning antiseptic on her wound, which made her wince and groan in pain. He blew on her leg to cool it off a bit, though it wasn't much consolation for her. She let out a pained sigh and tensed when he began wrapping a new bandage around her leg. It seemed to tighten around her wound, squeezing the life out of it like an anaconda would do to its prey.

"Night," he finished and walked over to the queen sized bed opposite hers. She echoed his word as he turned off the lights and they both went to sleep.


End file.
